University students from across the nation will present their own scenarios for missions to Mars next week at a five-day meeting in Pasadena, Calif., hosted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The students, mostly seniors, from 44 universities will make presentations for the Mars missions and disclose plans for futuristic hypersonic aircraft before officials from NASA and the aerospace industry.

The engineering design students are from schools which participate in the Advanced Design Program sponsored by NASA and the Universities Space Research Association.

The presentations offer the participants the chance to interact with each other and to share ideas and, at the same time, meet with leaders in government and industry concerned with space missions.

The Advanced Design Program, in its 10th year, was originally conceived by NASA to stimulate interest in engineering design education. Typically, students participate in the program by enrolling in an engineering design course and working with NASA engineers.

The program is funded by NASA and managed by Universities Space Research Association, the 76-member consortium created by the National Academy of Sciences.

The five-day meeting, at the Doubletree Hotel in Pasadena, runs June 12-16.